IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 188 

Calling upon the Government of Turkey to facilitate the reopening of the 

Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Theological School of Halki without condition 

or further delay. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2013 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. 

ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Ms. TITUS, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, and Mr. 

MICHAUD) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Calling upon the Government of Turkey to facilitate the 

reopening of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Theological 

School of Halki without condition or further delay. 

Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate is an institution with 

a history spanning 17 centuries, serving as the center of 

the Orthodox Christian Church throughout the world; 

Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the spiritual 

leader of nearly 300,000,000 Orthodox Christians around 

the world and millions of Orthodox Christians in the 

United States; 


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•HRES 188 IH 

Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the spiritual home of 

the world’s oldest and second largest Christian church located in Istanbul, Turkey; 

Whereas within the 2,000-year-old Sacred See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the New Testament was codified 

and the Nicene Creed was created; 

Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate sits at the crossroads 

of East and West, offering a unique perspective on the 

religions and cultures of the world; 

Whereas the disappearance of the See would mean the end 

of a crucial link between the Christian and the Muslim 

world since the continuing presence of the Ecumenical 

Patriarchate in Turkey is a living testimony of religious 

co-existence since 1453; 

Whereas the title of Ecumenical Patriarch was formally accorded to the Archbishop of Constantinople by a synod 

convened in Constantinople during the 6th century; 

Whereas since November 1991, His All Holiness, Bartholomew I, has served as Archbishop of Constantinople, 

New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch; 

Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I was awarded 

the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997, in recognition of 

his outstanding and enduring contributions toward religious understanding and peace; 

Whereas during the 110th Congress, 75 Senators and the 

overwhelming majority of members of the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives wrote to 

President George W. Bush and the Prime Minister of 

Turkey to express congressional concern, which continues 

today, regarding the absence of religious freedom for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in the areas of 


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church-controlled Patriarchal succession, the confiscation 

of the vast majority of Patriarchal properties, recognition 

of the international Ecumenicity of the Patriarchate, and 

the reopening of the Theological School of Halki; 

Whereas the Theological School of Halki, founded in 1844 

and located outside Istanbul, Turkey, served as the principal seminary for the Ecumenical Patriarchate until its 

forcible closure by the Turkish authorities in 1971; 

Whereas the alumni of this preeminent educational institution 

include numerous prominent Orthodox scholars, 

theologians, priests, bishops, and patriarchs, including 

Bartholomew I; 

Whereas the Republic of Turkey has been a participating 

state of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 

Europe (OSCE) since signing the Helsinki Final Act in 

1975; 

Whereas in 1989, OSCE participating states adopted the Vienna Concluding Document, committing to respect the 

right of religious communities to provide ‘‘training of religious personnel in appropriate institutions’’; 

Whereas the continued closure of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Theological School of Halki has been an ongoing 

issue of concern for the United States people and the 

United States Congress and has been repeatedly raised 

by members of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and by United States delegations to the 

OSCE’s annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting; 

Whereas in his address to the Grand National Assembly of 

Turkey on April 6, 2009, President Barack Obama said, 

‘‘Freedom of religion and expression lead to a strong and 


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vibrant civil society that only strengthens the state, which 

is why steps like reopening Halki Seminary will send 

such an important signal inside Turkey and beyond.’’; 

Whereas in a welcomed development, the Prime Minister of 

Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met with the Ecumenical 

Patriarch on August 15, 2009, and, in an address to a 

wider gathering of minority religious leaders that day, 

concluded by stating, ‘‘We should not be of those who 

gather, talk, and disperse. A result should come out of 

this.’’; 

Whereas during his visit to the United States in November 

2009, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I raised the 

issue of the continued closure of the Theological School 

of Halki with President Obama, congressional leaders, 

and others; 

Whereas in a welcome development, for the first time since 

1922, the Government of Turkey in August 2010 allowed 

the liturgical celebration by the Ecumenical Patriarch at 

the historic Sumela Monastery; 

Whereas following a unanimous decision by the European 

Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in 2010, ruling 

that Turkey return the former Greek Orphanage on 

Buyukada Island to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, on the 

eve of the feast day of St. Andrew observed on November 

30, the Government of Turkey provided lawyers representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate with the formal 

property title for the confiscated building; 

Whereas in March 2012, after bilateral meetings between the 

United States and Turkey in Seoul, Korea, President 

Barack Obama praised Prime Minister Erdogan’s efforts 

to protect religious minorities and announced, ‘‘I am 


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pleased to hear of his decision to reopen the Halki Seminary.’’; 

Whereas Turkey’s Council of Foundations returned 190 hectares of forestland to the Theological School of Halki in 

January 2013; and 

Whereas Secretary of State John F. Kerry met with Turkish 

officials and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I 

during an April 2013 meeting and reiterated the United 

States position that the Halki Seminary should be reopened without further delay or conditions: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) welcomes past and future meetings between 

3 Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ecu4 menical Patriarch Bartholomew I; 

5 (2) welcomes the positive gestures by the Gov6 ernment of Turkey, including allowing the liturgical 

7 celebration by the Ecumenical Patriarch at the his8 toric Sumela Monastery and the return of the 

9 former Greek Orphanage on Buyukada Island to the 

10 Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the return of the 190 

11 hectares of forestland to the Greek Orthodox foun12 dation listed as owner-of-record of the Theological 

13 School of Halki; 

14 (3) urges the Government of Turkey to facili15 tate the reopening of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s 


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•HRES 188 IH 

1 Theological School of Halki without condition or fur2 ther delay; and 

3 (4) urges the Government of Turkey to address 

4 other longstanding concerns relating to the Ecu5 menical Patriarchate. 

Æ 


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